Eleuthera to Little Harbour

[Larkin]

leaving from eleuthera........going to little harbour........if it is too rough to enter little harbour........what alternatives are there?......if any.....can you head down to Cherokee and anchor?......anyplace else to anchor while waiting for little harbour to settle down?

[osirissail]

Don't know your draft - but Little Harbor has a 1.1 meter grass bar across its entrance at low water. I assume you have the Explorer Charts . . .

- - Entering the Abacos via Little Harbor Cut can be a "sleigh ride" but not difficult as the cut is deep and the wave usually aligned with the cut.

- - Trying to enter Cherokee Sound is not possible if you draw more than a meter. Anchoring behind Cherokee Point at Little Bay would scare me too much especially if any sea is running. Since the east side of the Abaco's is the Atlantic Ocean, I don't think you will find much if any "calm seas" conditions coming up from Spanish Wells area. It has always been a sleigh ride in rough conditions everytime I've done it.

- - With proper navigation Little Harbor Cut is not any worse than entering Miami Government Cut in my opinion. I usually anchor behind Tom Curry Point when visiting Little Harbor since my draft is too much to get into Little Harbor itself.

[S/V Antares]

If the Little Harbor cut is not passable North Bar is likely the same. The only alternative is Man-o-war passage which is the widest deepest cut in the Abacos. If LH cut is bad the others are usually just as bad. Wait till things calm. I have waited for up to two weeks and glad I did.

[osirissail]

I agree with s/v Antares - I do wait down at Spanish Wells for decent wind and sea conditions mainly as the run north is in open ocean and can be rather unpleasant. If you wait for good wind and sea conditions most likely the conditions at the entrance "cuts" will also be good.

[S/V Antares]

Pete's Pub in Little Harbor (The harbor, not the cut) might be my favorite place on this earth. We have 5 ft draft and get in at 1/2 tide. 6 Ft can be done at full tide. Lots of water inside.

Waiting at Spanish Wells or Royal Island can be trying but surfing into the sea of abaco in a rage doing 15 + knots over the bar is near insanity. Many have tried and failed.

[Hud3]

Isn't North Bar Cut the entrance where a crew member on s/v Rule 66 lost her life and the boat washed up on the beach? The Little Harbour cut looks about the same caliber. You really need to be concerned about encountering "rage" conditions in many of the Bahamas passes this time of year. If it looks iffy, I'd want to make certain I had access to local knowledge over the VHF, or would go up to Man-O-War, as Antares suggested. The entrance there is wide, deep and straightforward.

[Vasco]

Originally Posted by Hud3

Isn't North Bar Cut the entrance where a crew member on s/v Rule 66 lost her life and the boat washed up on the beach? The Little Harbour cut looks about the same caliber. You really need to be concerned about encountering "rage" conditions in many of the Bahamas passes this time of year. If it looks iffy, I'd want to make certain I had access to local knowledge over the VHF, or would go up to Man-O-War, as Antares suggested. The entrance there is wide, deep and straightforward.

The cut at Man-O-War might look good but during a rage is not much better than the other cuts. Just a month ago a sportfish was lost with one fatality attempting the Man-O-War cut during a rage. Your best bet during a rage is to stay out at sea or, in this area, head down towards Royal Island.